


The Moor Haunts

by DustOnBothSides



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Black Shuck, Drabble, Ghosts, Haunting, Lingering on Earth, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-21
Updated: 2019-11-21
Packaged: 2021-02-16 11:02:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21506818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DustOnBothSides/pseuds/DustOnBothSides
Summary: Two spectres made the moors their home. Rey finds it unnatural and wants them to leave.
Relationships: Armitage Hux/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Armitage Hux/Kylo Ren
Comments: 12
Kudos: 35





	The Moor Haunts

**Author's Note:**

> A short drabble I've written one slow afternoon at work.

The moors were charming at that time of the year. Mosses growing there still retained their verdure, albeit tinted with a ghost of yellow, but the omnipresent fields of heather have all turned rusty red, and shaggy tufts of cotton grass whispered drily in the chilly wind, their sharp blades pale ochre and brittle. Only the strange, weatherworn standing stones remained the same as ever, vaguely menacing in their size and unusual shape. 

These moors were long since abandoned, too far away from even the most desolate of hamlets. The only things they had an abundance of were peat, grouses, and a cold, fine drizzle. Hundreds of years ago they had witnessed a battle so violent, it was said that if one would dig in the ground deeper than a foot or two, blood would come welling forth even now. Just another reason why people left the moors alone. 

One would especially avoid them on All Souls’ Day, nevertheless that afternoon, of all afternoons, a lone person walked down the abandoned, barely discernible road, which peat cutters had used for transferring their cargo back in the day. It was a woman clad in white, with a heavy woollen shawl of blue wrapped around her shoulders. Though her braided hair was still thick and brown like the earth, her eyes and mouth were surrounded by many fine lines. It was, therefore, very difficult to tell her age.

Her pace might´ve been steady, but her posture radiated anxiety. In one hand she clutched a long, wooden staff, in the other she held a strange amulet made of intertwined yew twigs and black iron rods, wreathed around a cracked piece of red crystal. 

Her goal was just a mile or two away. 

She could already see it. 

Shadows of two disused roads, crossing next to a large, tilted menhir. 

She only needed to get there, place the amulet in the ground at the foot of the menhir, and water it with the liquid from her flask – moonshine containing a fairy stone found in the depths of the cursed eastern forests. Then it would end. After all those years. Those long, arduous years of her life. This time she would make it. She just had to be fast. Faster than her two dear companions who were surely on the way to stop her. She could already sense them somewhere behind her and knew that they would catch up with her before too soon. 

She was just about to pass one of the many knolls by the road, when something made her stop. A sound. The sound, which has always been the portent of misfortune. A growl. Deep, dark, menacing. 

The sky above her head suddenly darkened as if before a violent storm, and the air became heavy with the scent of smoke. Slowly, step by step, a large shadow stepped out on the road in front of her. It was a dog. As big as a pony, with a heavy build and fur so black it looked more like a dog-shaped blot of ink. She dug much too deep in the ground, the beast’s appearance told her. And something welled up. 

The dog’s eyes burned like a pair of fist-sized embers. In spite of its growls, which continuously escaped from the depths of its throat, it did not attack her. In fact, it laid down across the road, cowered its hind legs with its bushy tail, and put one front paw over the other. 

The woman let go of her staff and clutched the amulet with both of her hands. 

“…please.” She whispered. 

The dog’s growls turned louder. 

“You have to let me-… it’s the only way for you to-… you must see it too, how vain it all-“

Every time she tried to reason with the beast, a lump of something in her throat cut the rest of the sentence off. 

She pressed her lips together and blinked the moisture away from her eyes. 

_“Don’t you see how pointless this is?! What do you mean to gain from it?!”_ she yelled finally and took a step forward. 

The dog got up and revealed its huge, pointed teeth backlit by the fiery glow spilling out of its gullet. Its ears were pressed flat against its head.

In that moment, her two companions finally caught up with her and snatched her out of the harm’s way. Large maw snapped shut where her throat has been up until a moment ago. 

“Rey! Thanks goodness!” the first one cried out as soon as he caught his breath. His dark skin was covered with sweat and dust from the road, but he did not care. 

“Dammit, Rey! Are you trying to get yourself killed?” the other one exclaimed as soon as he made sure there was nothing wrong with her. 

She shook them off, jumped back on her feet and returned to staring at the dog, who watched the group with guarded interest. It made no further attempts to harm her. Even the first one was only half-hearted. 

_“Why are you doing this?! It is not natural! You are inviting a great disaster simply by staying here – don’t you see?!”_

The dog ceased his growling. Somehow he managed to give the woman a cold stare in spite of the molten lava of his eyes. 

“Rey. Come on. Some people you just can’t reason with.” Finn told her and squeezed her shoulder. 

“You should listen to her. This isn’t right. You must realise it yourself.” Poe said, his words aimed at the large dog. 

Rey refused to budge for a while. Her shoulders shook with helpless rage and tears of disappointment sprung up in her eyes. It was right there. Less than a mile. But in the end she had no other choice but to give up and let herself be lead away by her two companions. 

The dog watched the three of them until they vanished behind the horizon. Then it sighed, turned away and trotted off in the other direction. Sometimes his paws touched the ground, leaving behind scorched marks in the water-logged moss, but most of the time they did not. The grass hardly stirred when he passed through its tufts. 

The sun was about to set when he reached the menhir. Next to it, directly in the centre of the crossroads, stood a white, translucent shadow. It was turned away from the mainland, gazing towards the thin sliver of the sea. Its clothes were white, skin as well, eyes were pale silver, but its hair retained the faintest traces of ginger… and on its chest shone a large spot of the brightest crimson. 

The ghost hummed when the dog’s soft muzzle touched his palm. He turned around and gave the beast a warm smile. 

“You are back, my beloved. Are we safe?” 

“Yes. Yes, we are.” The dog answered with a human voice. 

“Good.”

“Do you think she’s right?” Kylo asked quite suddenly, though not too unexpectedly. 

“I don’t care. And if she is – well, she should lead by example and disappear, the witch. All three of them. At least we have the excuse of being already dead. I wonder how does she justify _their_ unnatural lives.”

“I don´t give a damn, as long as they stay away from this place.” Kylo growled, though the menacing effect was somewhat spoiled by a huge yawn which followed. 

In that moment, the sun peeked out of the heavy layer of ashen clouds, only to begin its slow descent beneath the smooth line of the sea. Normal people would merely see a ball of pale yellow light, tracing the outlines of the closest clouds with a thin golden line. But not Armitage or Kylo. They saw a flood of brilliant light surrounded by several tiers of opalescent halos; a warm, inviting glow which pleased the eye and promised relief from everything that hurt.

“I´m not going there. Not ever.” Armitage muttered defiantly, turning away from the light. “You know me.” He added and laid down in the autumnal grass, resting his cheek on the chest of the dog spectre, who by then assumed his human form. “I need my guarantees. If I’m not sure I’ll be able to keep having you even _over there_ , then I’m not going. But if _you_ want to go, then…” a shadow of pain suddenly crossed his calm features. 

“No. I’m the same as you.” Kylo smiled, touched by his beloved´s anguish, and let his fingertips gently travel over his sweet face. “And you belong to me. Forever. In life _and_ death.”

“So you don’t feel lost, then?” Armitage asked, a small, teasing smile curving his lips. 

Kylo took his hand and kissed its knuckles. 

“No, my love. I feel found.”

The end


End file.
